Everyone could see the Tinder Mountains, a vast and heavily ever green treeline practically covered the entire area. There was a well traveled dirt road that went north and south across the winded plains outside of the ancient forest. Sounds of various birds and beasts echoed through the dense tree line.

"Well, let's follow the road south towards Gnome-gnome town," The Shield Maiden flatly declared before she turned to the others, "But first, we need a marching order! Caliaphy, I want you to fly ahead of us and scout the area for any friends or foes. I will take the lead with my shield at the ready. Alyson and Lazheros, I want you two to stay behind me but flank me on either side. That way you can keep a look out for anyone trying to ambush us. Irzen, I want you to have your sword at the ready and bring up the rear just in case someone tries to get the drop on us from behind. Okay?"

"That works for me, Serna," Alyson said flanking her on the left side.

"Sounds like a winner to me," Irzen shrugged as he brought up the rear.

Lazheros walked along side of Serna on her right while the kurori took point and scouted ahead. She went no more than fifty feet ahead of the shield maiden in case of trouble. There was none so far and occasionally would stop to listen while everyone caught up to her.

Serna was ever watchful as they moved forward down the road. She anticipated they might run into trouble before they reached their destination. So, the Shield Maiden readied her weapon just in case.

"Did you ever venture outside of Deeping Dale, Serna, before we met you?" Alyson asked quietly as they walked down the road.

"Only to visit my friend, The Widow Frieda," Serna replied with a wistful smile, "The Widow Frieda was a miller's wife who took over the mill after her husband got sick and died of a pox. She lived not more than a mile from Deeping Dale. Every once in a while, on my day off, I would venture out of town and walk to her place and sit and talk with her awhile. Sometimes, when the day was hot and the water was cool, we would go wading in a small pond near her mill. She was always kind to me and we always had a lot of fun together. I never went too far from Deeping Dale on my days off because I had to be back to work the next day. But when I did, I always went to The Widow Frieda's Mill."

"The old and the young always go well together when company is welcomed." Lazheros added.

"It's nice to know your childhood wasn't always one filled with work," Irzen concluded, "At least you found the time to have some fun."

Caliaphy buzzed forward down the road and could hear some noise. Curious she turned invisible to see what is was and gasped. The kurori flew back to the group as quickly as she could and reappeared in front of Serna, "Umm, there's lots of smelly frog men with spears and nets surrounding a bunch of gnomes. The small folk with BIG noses and ah...ah...they need our help."

"Then let's go!" Serna cried out, "Lead the way, Caliaphy!"

"How many are we facing?" Irzen asked the Fairy while they were on the run.

The kurori counted out loud, "One, two, three...um...oh yeah eight of those smelly froggies!"

"Eight, huh, I like our odds!" Irzen smiled with a vicious grin.

"Caliaphy, go invisible okay?" The Shield Maiden looked to her friend. "And get ready to zap those froggies when I tell you, okay?"

Lazheros grumbled quietly but this was Serna's way of charging into a fight instead of sneaking, "So much for the quiet approach. At least you had enough sense not to charge into a fight, Alyson."

The elementalist shrugged, "Meh, I suppose my dysfunctional parents taught me how to look for traps and Seriah, she taught how to sneak better."

With Serna leading the way into the clearing, she could clearly see what Caliaphy just stated moments earlier. A group of forest gnomes huddled together with a bunch of bullywugs in red outfits croaking menacingly at the gnomes.

"Why you here, gnome? How you not at the mine, working! No one leaves the mine without the boss' say so! So move, or we feed you to the worm!"

The gnomes were clearly scared to move until the sounds of one very brave young girl with a shield came charging into the opening.

"Pick on someone your own size, Lizard Bait!" The Shield Maiden stepped out into view at the edge of the clearing. But before the others could catch up, Serna waved back to them to stop and hide themselves in the brush nearby.

Irzen picked up on her hand signals, did as he was instructed and whispered to the others, "Clever girl, she's drawing them away from the gnomes and over to us so we can ambush them. Wait for her signal to strike!"